<p>Hi.
I have no clue what I want to major in yet but I think I might want to major in science. Just maybe.
Would WM be the right place for a science major? WM is rather known for social sciences.
I like everything else about WM...like the smaller class sizes and the location and the atmosphere and I don't want to choose another school over WM because I Might want to major in science later...</p>
<p>W&M has strong science programs. The placement into med school is very very good. There are opportunities for undergraduate research.</p>
<p>W&M definitely has strong programs in the science. The majority of the people I know are science majors and there are really great research opportunities for science majors even as freshmen.</p>
<p>Agree with the previous two posters. W&M’s sciences were quite rigorous when I was there 10 years ago and biology was one of the most popular majors. I don’t think you will be disappointed with the science departments. I surely wasn’t.</p>
<p>I recently toured and pre-med students have a fairly high chance of acceptance at top med schools (75-85% I think) and they don’t restrict based on GPA. Didn’t WM just complete a new science building? It certainly has a strong social science program but there are plenty of professors with excellent backgrounds for undergrad science. My dad is a professor and he noted the faculty looked stronger than similar LAC I was looking at. W&M’s liberal arts university name really does fit the university well. I haven’t found a school like it.</p>
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<p>[William</a> & Mary - Integrated Science Center (ISC)](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/senioradmin/adminoffice/construction/projects/isc/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/senioradmin/adminoffice/construction/projects/isc/index.php)</p>
<p>Good friend went to Duke for PhD in Chem and said first year was review after W&M. He said he had a major advantage.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Agree with all other posts. The new integrated science center, the opportunities for undergraduate research and the pre-professional advising all make W&M a great place to study science. We also offer a wide variety of programs: bio, chem, physics, environmental, applied, geology, neurscience, math, and a biochem minor.</p>
<p>WM is a great undergrad school for science. There are a lot of research opportunities and professors are more accessible than at large universities.</p>
<p>Which science are you thinking about? Your experience could vary a lot between them.</p>
<p>I felt the need to add my $.02.</p>
<p>As an alumnus with a degree in Computer Science (granted, not physical or biological science, but science nonetheless), I feel that W&M is an excellent place to study science. My reasons may be a little different that those of others. W&M ensures that everyone gets an excellent liberal arts education which is critical to a good science education.</p>
<p>Regardless of which science you choose, you will receive the instruction necessary to understand technically what is needed. In my case, the ability to do binary math, understand algorithms, etc.</p>
<p>So why does W&M liberal arts matter?</p>
<p>English - The most important part of a science education. You must be able to understand a problem in human terms (not technical terms) first. Conversely, once you feel that you have a solution if you cannot clearly define what it is that you are trying to accomplish in everyday English you will struggle. In short, take all the writing and literature classes that you can. Also, you must be able to listen to and understand when other people communicate to you why your idea really is great or is not as great as you originally thought.</p>
<p>Additional Languages (Spanish, French, Arabic, etc.) - In today’s economy, you will work with non-English speaking people potentially in non-English speaking countries. </p>
<p>Economics / Business - You do not need to be a financial wizard, but you had better be able to understand basic concepts like ROI, cost variances, and Marginal Utility if you want to be able to pitch your “technical” project in order to get funding. Even if it is the greatest thing in the world, if you cannot communicate why your project will actually benefit the business, it will not receive attention.</p>
<p>Politics / Government / Geography - At a macro level, you need to be able to understand regulations and explain why your project is necessary to keep the CEO out of prison, even if it has no ROI. On a personal level, it helps to be able to relate to the experiences of you new co-worker from Georgia (the state or the country).</p>
<p>Math - Yes, you will need to understand at least basic algebra and geometry in the real world. More importantly, understand that the most important part of math has nothing to do with numbers. It teaches you how to logically solve problems and back up your solutions… always show your work :-)</p>
<p>Religion - This is related to Languages above. You will need to be able to relate to people with varied religious backgrounds. Try to get at least a basic understanding or as many religions as possible.</p>
<p>Psychology / Sociology - You need to have an understanding of what motivates people and yes sometimes influence their behavior.</p>
<p>In short, for science to be successful, you need to be able to communicate with and relate to a wide range of people. The ability to create a isomorphism between technology and the “real” world is imperative. By way of examples, here are some personal experiences where a W&M “science” education has helped me.
- Science / Techncial - I admit that I have converted license plates from hex to decimal while sitting in traffic.
- Developed a presentation that justified the need for a System Development Life Cycle entirely based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This mortified my boss (Va. Tech engineer), but I got a full “pardon” from the CIO and the funding to move ahead with the project.
- Work daily with plant floor workers and have to explain in human terms why a particular technology helps them (safer, more efficient, etc.). The guys will also appreciate it when you explain how to use technology to improve their Kim Kardashian wallpaper, but I digress.
- I worked in Brazil for a while. Although Brazilian’s speak Portugese, I was able to apply the Spanish that I learned at W&M to be able to relate it to Portugese and at least figure otu enough Portugese to survive and read basic email, instructions, etc.
- Yes, I did have a co-worker from Georgia (the country) with whom I was able to discuss what I learned in my Poli. Sci. classes at W&M to reality. We became good friends.
- I work daily with Christians, Hindus, and Muslims. I have applied knowledge from W&M comparitive religion classes to have a basic understanding if for no other reason than to know when to stop a discussion before it gets out of control.
- I use basic math to be able to determine how much of a given product can fit on a truck based on dimensions and weight. Yes, I even have to calculate the volume of a cylinder and determine grams per square meter regularly.
- Used Bach’s Crab Canon to explain to two people why what they thought were opposing views were really saying the same thing.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long dia-TRIBE against a purely technical education. You get the idea, W&M’s liberal arts education enhances a “science” education.</p>
<p>CS Majors: While you are learning the latest programming language (C++, JAVA, JavaScript, etc.), be sure to learn English first.</p>
<p>nice post GSharpM7 (play music too?)</p>
<p>GSharpM7, for as often as this question, in its many variations, gets asked, your response is very welcome – I wish there were a way to pin this to the top of the forum, instead of that dessicated discussion on Nichol’s resignation …</p>
<p>As someone in the industry, too, what you’re describing is the difference between a programmer and a professional engineer. If you want to compete with programmers in 3rd world countries, then just learn programming languages - you might be a ‘star’, or you may end up the equivalent of a short-order cook, with salary suppression an almost certain affliction, superstar or no. </p>
<p>If you want a real career, with professional compensation in IT, (or in almost any other professional field), I agree, you must learn to think, to reason, to communicate effectively and clearly, in both written and spoken English. The number of brilliant engineers I’ve met whose careers were short-circuited by their having the verbal and interpersonal skills of an ADHD-afflicted 5th grader are legion. </p>
<p>And learning cultural sensitivity and some languages will be very helpful as well; I recall being in a cellular carrier’s test-bed for their 4G wireless system and it was like the Tower of Babylon in there - what I guessed to be Mandarin, Pashto, Russian, French and Hindi were all being spoken (though there may have been some English as well.) The ability to effectively communicate with people from many different cultures is a real difference-maker in most technical career fields these days, not just IT, but pharma, medicine, finance, government, etc.</p>
<p>So, again, thanks for the insights, (I thought I was the only one who tried to find patterns and messages in license plates by converting them into different base systems?) ;)</p>
<p>Have been on the whirl-wind tour taking my D to a couple of Admitted Students days for a few of days, so I have not been on-line much.</p>
<p>@soccerguy315: I enjoy music, everything from Shostakovich to Satriani to Sex Pistols. I also “play at” the guitar, mostly butcher it, but it is fun so I play when I can. I guess to got the reference in the user name.</p>
<p>@Squiddy: Well said. I always tells programmers that the first language that they should learn is English. If you cannot explain in human terms what you are trying to accomplish, then you do not understand it. I am using English as an example here, if one’s native language is something else then use it.</p>
<p>I like the Tower of Babel reference. I often work with manufacturing facilities in the South and get to play interpreter between non-US citizen’s that speak better English than many American’s, but do not necessarily know the slang. Some of my favorites…
- “What does this mean ‘Pizza Joint’?”
- “What is the whole she-bang?”</p>
<p>My favorite…
- “I think that I would be very happy if I just bought the farm!”</p>
<p>If I can just jump onto this thread and ask…how’s W&M for physics specifically? As opposed to Virginia Tech?</p>
<p>I go to W&M myself and am well aware of how good the Biology department is as many of my friends are going to major in the subject, but I don’t know much about the other science departments. My brother (a junior in high school) is thinking he might want to major in physics but isn’t sure. He visited both schools and favored W&M for it’s environment/atmosphere, feel, size, etc. but isn’t sure if he wants to do anything with engineering, which would make Tech the more logical decision. W&M’s proximity and relationship with Jefferson Lab in Newport News would be good for physics, though, I’d imagine…?</p>
<p>Thoughts, please? Thanks so much! :)</p>
<p>Lets see, as a student you know that Small Hall is basically being doubled in size with much more laboratory space, which is a good thing. I believe that all physics students must participate in research in order tor receive their degree, so he will definitely get hands on experience.</p>
<p>I’m not that sure about the rest, actually. Physics doesn’t really come to mind when I think VT though.</p>
<p>WM physics is very good. Better than WM biology, I would say. There are not too many physics majors, probably fewer than 20 per year, but a lot of professors. All have active research programs, many at Jlab, and only teach one course a semester. TAs sometimes grade homework and run the into physics labs, but other than that everything is done by professors who are real physicists. It is not difficult to get a research position over the summer at Jlab, even after freshman year. A lot of WM physics grads get into top grad programs.</p>
<p>WM physics is also difficult, which is part of why it is so good and you learn so much. I do know one person who transferred to tech for engineering because he couldn’t handle physics here.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Tech physics. Obviously, their engineering is better than WM’s, because we don’t have engineering departments. That said, I know people who’ve gone on to jobs that are basically engineering straight from WM. There are also materials science classes in the applied science department that some physics students take.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the help! My brother is very appreciative, and I expected no less from the Tribe :)</p>
<p>Such fantastic and informative posts. Not sure there’s much to add except to say that many people think liberal arts or W&M and think humanities but actually there are far more students who come in with an interest in science than anyone would think and bio and neuroscience are among the most popular majors year after year.</p>
<p>In addition to all the buzz about ISC I and II (and hopefully the completion of ISC III in the next few years) and Small Hall’s enhancement, don’t forget about the Keck Lab, a state-of-the-art environmental research facility completed just a few years ago.</p>
How is the Kinesiology and Health Science program there? Do the students get into good physical therapy schools?